Top 25

08/27/2014

We'll finish the Top 25 series with the signature plays of Lesean McCoy's record-breaking season and the Philadelphia Eagles 2013 season. I don't think many fans will disagree that the Snow Bowl was the funnest game we've witnessed in recent memory so it's only fitting that we end the Top 25 with these two plays.

Perhaps my favorite image of the 2013 Philadelphia Eagles season. At the 2 minute warning, 14 point lead on 4th and 12 the Eagles are trying to run out the clock against the Lions. Brent Celek makes a heady, unselfish play by sliding in bounds instead of running in for the easy TD:

But before we go there, we need to show how the Eagles set up this game-clinching play.

08/26/2014

At #3 in the ChipWagon Top 25 I am highlighting my absolute favorite play because it's a great mix of old school and new school football. I wanted to make this #1 but decided to keep my own biases aside.

Today we are going to focus on the Sweep Read play that we run which is an absolutely gorgeous play to watch especially if you are a fan of OL on the move. Here we will highlight several variations of the old Lombardi sweep and the pin and pull outside zone blocking concept. The newer wrinkle is how Chip Kelly often added a read-option and packaged play component to this old school staple running play:

08/14/2014

At #4 I wanted to highlight Chip Kelly's ability to adapt, adjust, and evolve concepts through the 2013 season. I think this is one of the most important aspects of a successful NFL head coach. You can have all the greatest ideas in the world, but the other 31 coaching staffs have smart people too and they catch onto new concepts fast.

As I've highlighted since the birth of this blog and more specificially through the course of the Top 25 plays of 2013, Chip Kelly is not inventing anything new in football. Virtually every concept he has used as been combined with and applied to different ideas that were created and implemented by the football forefathers.

In #13 of the Top 25 we talked about the use of mesh concepts on shallow drag routes underneath. The idea here is to create traffic and confusion leading to a free receiver coming outside. Chip and the Eagles ran this concept with high success all over the field and at the goalline often combining an underneath mesh concept with a wheel route out of the backfield.

08/12/2014

One of the major concepts of the Chip Kelly/Pat Shurmur offense that led to explosive plays in 2013 was the screen game. You need to look no further than the first play from scrimmage against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in week 6.

A lot of things go into a screen play that results in a 45-yard gain. Let's break it down and take a further look at a few other explosive screen plays in 2013.